Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrives for the state dinner in honour of South Korea's President Lee Myung-Bak and his wife Kim Yoon-Ok October 13, 2011 at the White House. (Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
The little more than 5 feet tall and around 100-pound Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg might not be one you would expect to see on the ground doing push-ups, but the 80-year-old recently revealed proudly that she's up to 20. And we're not talking the on-the-knees push-ups either -- these are the full-on, real-deal push-ups.
Still, there's someone there spotting her just in case her arms give out. That person is Bryant Johnson, a 206-pound man, who according to the recent profile about him in the Washington Post, also trains Justice Elena Kagan and other federal judges. Although the piece centers around Johnson, it reveals fascinating tidbits about Ginsburg as well.
Ann Marimow with the Post notes that while Ginsburg is working out at the Supreme Court's gym -- yep, there's a gym on the ground floor -- PBS Newshour plays in the background.
“When I started, I looked like a survivor of Auschwitz," Ginsburg said in her interview with the Post. Now, she attributes her physical well-being to her twice-weekly sessions.
But Ginsburg isn't a newbie to training. She's been using a personal trainer since 1999, the Post reported, after cancer treatment left her lacking strength.
How did Johnson land the role of trainer to two justices and several federal judges? The Post reported that Johnson, a records manager in the D.C. federal court clerk’s office by day, began gaining rapport in his own office when he started personal training on the side. His evening business spread as he gained trust due to his background as an Army reservist who also, according to U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan, is "a sergeant, but he doesn’t act like a sergeant."
“You are with this person when they are most vulnerable,” Johnson told the Post. “They show you their weakness, but the point is not to make them feel weak. Your job is to build them up.”
Read more about Johnson and his high-profile clients in the Washington Post's full article here.
(H/T: Yahoo!)
